These Dogs Aren't Kosher

Where are today’s champions of the common man?  Who is the Ralph Nader of the new millennium?  If he or she is out there, we really could use their assistance.  It appears to me these days we, the American consumers are getting screwed at every turn.   What’s the latest twist of the screw? Hot dogs!  That’s right, Hot Dogs.

Remember the query of old.  Why do they sell hot dogs in quantities of 10 and buns in quantity of 8?  Well ponder that question no more.  On a recent trip to my local grocery store to pick up some of my favorite, Nathan’s All Beef Hot Dogs, I was dumb founded to discover only eight franks in my package.  Needless to say, the price remained relatively the same.  Is it me, or is something just not Kosher?

If you haven’t noticed, the packaging on virtually all food and commercial goods has changed.  No longer can you buy a pound of coffee or a pound of bacon.  What was once a pound is now sold as 12 ounces.  What is sold as two cups of grated cheese has a weight of 8 ounces (actually 1 cup). Laundry detergent once sold by the number of washable loads, comes in smaller quantities but is now all “super concentrates.” The pricing however is not equitable with the reduction in volume.  It’s all a consumer rip-off.

It seems to me, it all started early during the 2nd term of the Bush administration with the “gas crisis.” You remember, we were told the national cost of gas was escalating due to the OPEC nations’ reduction of production levels and increases in the cost per barrel of crude oil.  Gas prices in most cases doubled nationwide.  Slowly but surely, all consumer goods that used gasoline in its delivery to market, began to increase in cost.  We bought this bill of sale -- hook, line and stinker. That’s right everyone, “stinker.”

Why stinker, you ask? When the truth came forth, the OPEC nations had never reduced production levels.  And the increase in cost per barrel wasn’t due to any increases in the cost of crude.   In fact, it turned out the increases were due to mere guessing from Wall Street Speculators.  As the American people panicked, tightened their belts, and hoped and prayed for relief, the oil companies reported record profits.

Two things really troubled me more than anything else about this whole scenario.  First was the fact that our sitting President (at the time), George W. Bush, who had de-regulated Wall Street, was an “oil man.”  He too generated record profits from this “crisis.” And second, even after the truth was told, there was no readjustment in the cost of gasoline or the affected consumer goods.  Somehow I felt the American consumer had been bamboozled. 

Was this all by design? Had Corporate America found another way to charge more, while delivering less?  And were they counting on the American people to maintain their lethargic attitude and say and do nothing? I believe so.

America, we should not sit idly by and take whatever scraps are thrown our way.  Most of us cannot afford it anyway.  America, it’s time to take control of our lives, our government, and our economy.  If we don’t take charge of our situation, no one will do it for us.  The time for action is now.

I’m not hatin, I’m just sayin…